Fisheries Department first Jaffna District Office
opened:
Ministry spends Rs 855 m on N-E fisheries
Ridma DISSANAYAKE
The Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry has spent Rs
855 million, with foreign investments, loan schemes and donations for
the development of the fisheries sector in the Northern and Eastern
provinces.
As the first step of the development programme in fisheries in the
Northern province, the ministry established the first District Office of
the Fisheries Department in Jaffna.
The ministry had spent Rs 22.6 million under the guidance of
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr. Rajitha
Senarathne.
Simultaneously, the minister had distributed boats, canoes, boxes,
bicycles and equipment essential in the fisheries industry among the
fisheries community in the North. The ministry had spent Rs 18 million
for this purpose.
In addition, the minister granted loans to 200 fishermen and each
received Rs 100,000 through this programme.
Re-construction of the Gurunagar Jetty had also commenced and
Minister Senarathne made a decision to recruit youths only to fill the
vacancies in the fisheries sector in the North and East provinces.
The Fisheries Ministry had spent around Rs 50 million with assistance
from the Post-Tsunami Coastal Rehabilitation and Resource Management
Programme under purview of the International Funds for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), to provide fishery vessels, equipment and loans for
the fishery community in Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Kilinochchi districts.
The Fish Landing Centres Development project governed by the Food and
Agricultural Organization had spent Rs 45.3 million for the development
of the Mailajudirippu, Kallapadu and Silavathai fish landing centres in
Mullaitivu.
Rs 52.8 million had been spent for the development activities in 11
fish landing centres in Mannar, Batticaloa and Ampara districts and all
infrastructure facilities have also been completed.
Around Rs 30 million was spent for the development activities of five
fish landing centres in the Trincomalee district and to provide motor
bikes, computers and other modern technical equipment for the fishery
offices in the Jaffna, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Kalmunai,
Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee districts.
The Post- Tsunami Coastal Rehabilitation and Resource Management
Programme had allocated Rs 94 million to build a wholesale fish trade
centre in the Trincomalee district and construction is underway on the
instructions of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Deputy
Minister Susantha Punchinilame.
Around Rs 37 million had been spent by the Fisheries Ministry with
the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the development
activities in Kanthankundiya fish landing centre and the District
Fishery Office in the Batticaloa district.
A large number of development programmes in the fisheries sector have
been implemented by the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development
Ministry islandwide and all these development projects are to be
completed by the end of next year. |